White, Black and Grey
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: [Dawn/Dusk rewrite] They said it was friendly competition, the conflict between Light Fang and Night Claw. When CITY is attacked, no-one thinks it's because of them. But two rising Tamers, Koh and Sayo, soon discover that something more sinister lurks behind the scenes.


**A/N:** Slowly plodding my way through Dawn/Dusk. Aiko Isari's already given me a brief rundown because I kept on getting lost (I do that, even in real life), so thank you so much Aiko! So this is my rewrite/expanded universe version of the games, written for two challenges at the Digimon Fanfiction Challenges Forum (link's in profile). They are the Diversity Challenge (Section L (minimum of 100k fic), prompt 13 – series or season rewrite) – in this case, a Dawn/Dusk rewrite, and the Multiple POVs Challenge, the POVs alternating between Koh and Sayo.

The italicised parts at the beginning are first person set at a later time in the story. The normal font after the chapter title are third person, set in the past and focusing on their side of the story. So it'll be a little like switching between Dawn and Dusk until the two halves of the story come closer together, but you don't need to know anything about the games to follow this! Complete rewrite after all. :D

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>White, Black and Grey<strong>

**.**

_We need some order, some hierarchy, in this world. Isn't that what they say? Some way to separate, and to reconcile. Some way to have a community that moved together and moved forward. It was all for the spirit of friendly competition, they said. The reason why the CITY was split in two. Why the two fractions were kept separate, except to battle. _

_But that's not the truth. There's a deeper secret that lies at the heart of the CITY, under the DigiColiseum which joins the Sunshine district to the Darkmoon. A secret that Tamers like us created, and Tamers like us unwillingly protect – and feed. Because, in the end, we're just the blind leading the blind towards the light. Moths to a flame that will burn us alive if only we could have seen it in time…_

_If we had, we might not have lost so much getting to this point. And to think, I'd loved the idea back then. I'd wanted to become the best Tamer in the world as fast as possible…_

**.**

**Chapter 1**

**_Koh: To Move Forward_**

**.**

Flashiness was the norm at Sunshine CITY. Bright lights, bright colours – even loud voices, and even louder ambitions, came into that, and Koh found himself fitting right in. He didn't know when he'd come to live there, at the Tamers home, but one day he wasn't borrowing Digimon and trying to make a name for himself. He _was_ a name.

That's how most of the Tamers started out. In one of the towns in Server, growing up around Digimon and trying to connect with them. But that wasn't easy. It never was, especially not when it came to the likes of being a Tamer. No, those Digimon were wild. They didn't want to take orders and humans that weren't Tamers had no way of making them see sense. All there was was small friendships, small allegiances. Few of those bonds grew into something more permanent – and whether they did or not…sometimes that was based on a whole lot of luck and nothing else.

In a little house partway of the way up Login Mountain, Koh befriended a Tokomon. It wasn't a friend at first, though it stayed a Tokomon for quite a long time before finally evolving into Patamon. That was when Chief Glare and Ophanimon found him, and brought him to Sunshine CITY. Helping Tokomon evolve had been all the proof they needed of his potential.

He really thought he was special, until he found out everybody had done much the same thing. Helping Digimon evolve was something they were all expected to be able to accomplish. It scraped the barrel of what being a Tamer was all about.

But that letdown didn't last long. Being a Tamer meant befriending _more_ Digimon, and, not only that, but battling with them as well. And then every day was training: training for higher goals, training for competitions –

Koh, with his desire burning bright, dived right in to that life. He trained, alongside Patamon and against and with many other Digimon. Some were wild. Others were already tamed. All of them knew him as a Tamer, and, slowly, he earned their respect.

Oh, there were a lot of false starts initially. Lots of losses. Lots of embarrassments. Lots of failures. But those soon began to be replaced with successes. With victories. Patamon stopped rolling his eyes and started encouraging instead. Other Tamers stopped catching him for an easy victory and started accepting him as a training partner. Newer Tamers came: wet behind the ears and much like Koh had been when he'd first come to Sunshine CITY. And he had a blast showing them the same sorts of ropes.

He got better, and then he had a new goal: to expand his team, and to gain rank. For now, he was still amongst the novices: the Normal rank. Above him were the Bronze, the Silver, the Gold and the legendary Platinum Tamers he'd never seen in Sunshine CITY, not even once. He supposed they must exist. He'd asked Chief Glare if he was one, but he'd said he wasn't.

But that was far off. Becoming a Platinum Tamer would take him years, if not decades – and that was assuming he could pull it off at all. But if he could, the Digmon he could partner, and fight, would be legendary. Greater than Ophanimon – and she'd looked like a God when Koh had first laid eyes on her.

Hell, she still looked like a God. Koh was yet to see anything grander.

**.**

To advance from the rank of a Normal Tamer, there were a few things one needed to do. One was to partner at least three Digimon and be able to advance them to the Champion level. Another was to win a title – and that was often the tough one because Night Claw had taken all titles for the last ten years or so.

Sunshine CITY hosted the Tamer group called Light Fang, and they were headed by Chief Glare. But on the other side of the Central Bridge was another part of the CITY, called Darkmoon. They hosted another Tamer group: Night Claw, led by Chief Julia and her partner ChaosGallantmon. And Night Claw, it was whispered, was unsurpassable.

Koh personally thought that was a load of rubbish, but the fact was that Light Fang hadn't manage to take a title from them for as long as he remembered, and as long as a great deal of other Tamers remembered as well. The number of Normal Ranks grew – but that was about it. Until they could beat Night Claw, they couldn't advance.

But there were Silver Tamers, and Gold Tamers, amongst the Light Fang. So at some point Night Claw must have been defeatable. For some odd reason there were no Bronze Tamers – as though Night Claw undefeated streak had begun from their Normal Tamer ranks.

_Those first guys must be Gold Tamers by now_, Koh mused, running through holorecords of those old battles. _At least. Maybe even Platinum_.

But there was no way to know for sure. Sunshine CITY didn't keep records on the inhabitants of Darkmoon beyond tournament battle data – and Platinum Trainers weren't on the record anyway.

Koh wondered if that meant you had to do something more than just win a tournament full of Gold Tamers.

_But first, I need to win this one_.

Someone clapped him on the shoulder and he jumped.

'You're getting ahead of yourself there, bud.'

Koh rolled his eyes. 'Yeah, I know,' he said to Litton who appeared at his shoulder. 'I need to acquire Normal rank before I can compete in a tournament.'

'And to do that, you need another two Digimon,' Litton reminded, clapping him on the back and then pulling away. 'But good to know you're looking for new heights. School gotten boring?'

Koh grimaced. School, in his opinion, was always boring. Still, he'd been diligent in attending his classes – after he'd thought a few weeks after beginning them that he was above silly little lectures and stimulations and had snuck out to Thriller Ruins.

It had proven to be a little too much of a thrill, but luckily his teachers had caught wind of his little endeavour and sent a few Silver tamers after him.

'I think I've learnt enough,' Koh said – a little doubtfully. That old trip was still fresh in his memory because he hadn't left the city much after it. It was more attending classes and training with Patamon indoors and picking up all the skills he was told he needed to get through the wilder parts of the Digital World on his own.

'Well, your teachers seem to think so too,' Litton said, staring at him hard.

Koh's expression brightened. 'You mean I can…'

'Hold your horses.' Litton put up a hand. 'You know what comes next, right? You're allowed to go to some of the wilder areas of the Digital World, but it has to be with someone who's at least Silver rank and you're not allowed to let the Gate out of your sight.'

'I know.' Koh resisted the urge to say anything more. Litton was pretty cool – she was in charge of the section of Tamer homes where Koh's was, so he knew the other quite well. The houses were separate and independent for the most part, but the group of houses that came under the Gold Tamer would often get together and go to the amusement park in the CITY, or just play games in the training farms. Sometimes she even let the younger, farmless kids, come check out her own farms.

'They cost an arm and a leg,' she'd said, 'but they're worth it.'

And when she'd explained why, showing off all the equipment customised to his specific Digimon and their needs, they could see it too. The training farms were generic, for all those of Normal rank and below – except the few rare Normal ranks who got their own farms. Koh hadn't really heard of that happening, but he'd heard from one of the older Tamers that Chief Glare had given quite a sum to a Normal Tamer a few years back that had saved a group of Tamers from rampaging Monochromon with her Floramon's paralysing pollen. The money probably wasn't much in the eyes of a Gold Tamer, but it had enabled the girl to put it with what money she'd earned through other jobs and buy a small farm of her own.

And Tamers tended to be pretty protective over their farms. Spirit of competition and all that – but that was why Litton was cool. She let a bunch of kids that could become her rivals see the details of her training grounds. And she didn't mind at all.

'Are you taking me first off?' Koh asked.

'Yep.' Litton grinned. 'Unless you'd rather have someone else.'

'No way.' Koh's long locks bounced on his head as he shook it. 'Most of them are stick in the mud.'

'Watch it kid,' Litton laughed. 'You'll be stuck with those stick in the muds for a while. Now, any first dibs about where to go? What sort of Digimon you're chasing after?'

'A dragon,' Koh said immediately. 'I want a dragon.'

Litton hummed. 'Well, let's give Limit Valley a try then.'

**.**

Koh, with Patamon sitting comfortably on his head, marvelled at his first glimpse of Limit Valley. There was a Gate block right in front of him – he supposed that was one of the CITY's defences since they had those in the main gates to the city as well. Tall and red and green and blue and rising up taller than he was – in truth, he found that more impressive looking than the Gate itself: a little blue portal in the ground.

'Are you going to stare at the Gate block or at Limit Valley?' Litton laughed, coming through the portal herself with her Anubismon. 'Come on, turn around.'

Koh did, and stared at the way the rock formations created a path straight ahead, and how the towers that transmitted signals were tucked behind them. He could only see one, and that was because it was so close to the Gate. He didn't know much about those towers, except that they were used to monitor the wilder parts of the Digital World from the CITY. All of what he did know was on the CITY end of things – just in case anything ever went wrong.

Nothing had, yet. But if something did go wrong, being stuck on the terminals was perhaps the worst job a Tamer could wind up with.

But there was more than just the towers to see, and they took his attention away almost immediately. The Digimon: Biyomon flying in the sky, what looked like SandYammamon in the distance… More Digimon than he'd seen in a go flying happily.

He whistled. Then let out a shout of surprise when a Drimogimon popped up a few feet ahead, drilling through the ground.

Litton laughed. 'Howdy.'

'Howdy girl,' the Drimogimon returned, disappearing into the ground again.

Koh blinked at the hole. 'Maybe I should –'

'Nope,' Litton cut him off. 'You're sticking to Koromon.'

'Koromon?' Koh repeated, deflating a little. Nothing wrong with them in particular, but after seeing all the Rookie and Champion Digimon, an in-training was like the crumbs on a platter of cookies.

'I'm not the one who'll be explaining to Chief Glare why I brought one of his un-ranked recruits back in a body bag,' she shrugged. 'But look behind the tower. There's a Koromon right there.'

Koh looked, though it took more than a moment to spot the little pink Digimon. His eyes weren't as well-trained as Litton's after all. But he found the Koromon, and he pulled his Digivice iC to scan the Digimon. 'Level five,' he said, reading the screen. 'Easy. Patamon?'

'Ready,' Patamon chirped, as excited as he was. It would be his first battle outside training as well. Even if the Digimon was a stage lower, the prospect of being able to escape monotonous routines and engage in this sort of battle every day was a thrilling one. 'Let's go go go!'

Litton crossed her arms and watched the pair run towards the Koromon. It noticed them and tried to flee, but Koh had luckily already scanned it. The digi-field had already been set: an invisible barrier made from digi-code that locked the two battling Digimon in.

Patamon puffed its chest. Koromon skirted behind a rock and then, as though recognising the arrogance and inexperience of its opposition, it stuck its tongue out.

Patamon growled and let out a Boom Bubble without Koh's command.

Koh winced. If it were a training class, that would have lost him some points. He glanced at Litton. She just hummed and watched the battle. He returned his attention to it.

They weren't in class anymore. Little slip-ups like that didn't matter, so long as they got results.

'Patamon!' he yelled. 'Fire Boom Bubble to the left!'

Koromon, who'd been coming out from behind the rock in that direction, got a face full of it.

'Now ag – ' He cut himself off when the Koromon scampered behind the rock again. 'Uurgh, just go behind the rock!'

Patamon followed the directive, and the Koromon simply came to the other side: the side facing Koh. He thought if he had another Digimon the fight would be much easier – but that was part of the challenge, part of his goal. He'd need to fight and defeat seven Koromon to gain the right amount of data for an egg.

'Come around this way!'

Patamon did. The Koromon just escaped the other way, and for a bit they just danced like that. Finally, Koh lost patience and tried to grab the Koromon himself. The barrier stopped him, knocking him flat.

'Ouch,' he muttered, sitting back up again. Patamon stared at him. 'Just blast the rock away!'

Patamon tried, but its Boom Bubble wasn't nowhere near powerful enough. Though it made enough noise to scare the Koromon away from there, leaving it, for a precious moment, out in the open. 'Cool! Get it!'

But the Koromon bolted and the Boom Bubble clipped an ear.

'Data loaded is only twenty percent,' Koh checked. 'We need to get a direct hit in. Patamon!'

Patamon blasted the new rock Koromon had sought shelter behind. This time, the Koromon didn't move. It'd realised the last time the rookie Digimon attacking it wasn't powerful enough to destroy stone.

'Fly up,' Koh called. 'Then attack that pink head!'

Patamon did, and managed to clip the Koromon again as it scooted out of the way. Patamon followed with its eyes, ready with another attack. Around and around and around –

Patamon's attacks steadily grew more sporadic. 'I'm dizzy,' Patamon wailed finally, collapsing on the rock.

Koromon took the opportunity to throw a Frothy Spit, before running back when Anubismon's threatening form appeared.

'Time's up,' Litton said. 'Well, overtime really, but I thought I'd give you a few extra minutes.'

Koh sighed and let the barrier up, and the Koromon vanished amongst the rocks. 'We were hopeless,' he sighed.

Patamon, trying to rub the Frothy Spit away, looked equally despondent.

Litton just grinned. 'You want to know what happened my first try?' she asked. 'Not quite sure, really, but somehow I was the one covered in Frothy Spit.'

Koh grimaced at that. Humans weren't exactly resilient like Digimon were, and couldn't be healed by the far simpler methods they used on Digimon. And they didn't get clean so easily either.

'How long did it take you to get enough scan data?' he asked.

'Well.' Litton chewed her lower lip. 'A few months, really. I was trying to catch a Tanemon in Chip Forest and my Biyomon kept on getting poisoned. Not the smartest idea for a novice trainer, but hey,' she shrugged, 'I had my heart set on one.'

Patamon looked towards them. Koh picked the little rookie up, wincing at the Frothy Spit that clung to his gloves. Who knew an in-training could spit out that much. It sure wasn't like the simulations.

And the Koromon in simulations didn't run around so much either.

'You okay?' he asked.

'My pride is bruised,' Patamon pouted. 'What did that Koromon have for breakfast?'

'Whatever it could find out here,' Litton laughed. 'As for the two of you, I'd recommend working on your speed before trying again. Remember, you get less time with the Silver trainers.'

'Right, right.' It didn't seem fair – but time was money or something like that and everyone had their own things to do as well. And it was supposed to be a good challenge to be able to finish battles in restricted amounts of time and get the digimon a hundred percent loaded on to their iCs, which feeded back to the main computers back in the CITY and were recorded. 'We'll get training.'

'Right.' Litton stretched. 'Let's head back to CITY now. I need to check in with the Chief and you need to record your battle.'

Koh winced. 'Do I really have to record this one?'

'You won't remember your mistakes otherwise.' She gave him a little push. 'Now get going. No putting it off or you're the big bad robber the next time we play cops and robbers.'

'Yuck.' The robber was nobody's favourite roll. 'I'll get it done.' He stepped on to the Gate and let it transport him back to the CITY with Patamon in his arms, Litton and Anubismon following.

He was feeling better about the report once he got Patamon cleaned and dropped off at the general farm and got himself home. He'd be recording every battle he participated in from that point after all, and there'd be gems in the future. Near future, hopefully. They'd do better and get better and get the scan data he needed of the Koromon and get his own egg.

_A Koromon_, he thought, throwing himself on to the bed. _Those evolve into Agumon, and then…_ It depended on the sort of training it underwent and what sort of stats it had overall by the time it was ready to digivolve, but any of the possibilities would be just as awesome.

_Patamon and Koromon_, he mused, shutting his eyes. An angel and a dragon. They'd make a great team. He could just imagine them: wings and fire and the sort of strong aura he could feel from within his dreams.


End file.
